Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2012

Many entrepreneurs I know feel guilty about not quitting their day job when initiating their startup, worrying about not giving their all to an employer, juggling the multiple roles, or even a legal conflict of interest. If your hypothesis is, “we can build a better web-based chat client”, that’s something you could test quickly.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Funding 95

socalTECH

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Despite the huge surge of content specifically being developed for the web--and for sites like YouTube--making that content profitable and sustainable continues to be an issue for content creators. Josef Holm: Tubestart is a crowdfunding platform for YouTube creators, web series creators, and for digital video in general. READ MORE>>.

Content 231

Content Platform Sites Web 231

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2015

One of the quickest ways to become an entrepreneur these days is to develop and publish a smartphone app. This freemium model has been used for years by web apps. This is a tough one to accomplish, but it has paid off handsomely for the first to win in other categories, such as Amazon Kindle and Netflix.

Startup 98

Startup Platform Pricing Netflix 98

socalTECH

MARCH 21, 2011

In the case of SmartyPants Vitamins (www.wearesmartypants.com), it's at the core of the company. However, I saw that the people building traditional products were still not familiar with the social web. All of our competitors are focused on being on shelves, and they don't get the web in any meaningful way. Gordon Gould: Yes.

Web 225

Web Social Media SEO Media 225

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Geared towards artists, entrepreneurs and innovators, crowdfunding is a great way to get any projects off the ground, be it startup, movie, music or invention. This is because the project itself was poorly planned and companies failed to produce a good video. Web Series. Music Project. Art Project. Technological Product.

Statistics 90

Statistics Entertainment Google Web 90

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 24, 2010

I wrote the following answer: “I have always believed that UGC (user generated content) website users fall into three categories that follow the 1/9/90 rule. 90% of all users will never contribute anything to your company. But perhaps the lurker category is smaller. We all get benefit regardless of our roles.

Technical Review 294

Technical Review Writing Content Sites 294

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

To say he has had an impact on the web would be an understatement. He invented the category of sponsored search. At the time when you did a search on Lycos, Alta Vista or similar for a category such as Cars you ended up getting 9 spam results and 1 proper website to meet your needs. Summary notes, as always, provide below.

Competition 350

Competition Idealab Product CitySearch 350

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

The company was founded by Bong Koh, a former EIR at Prism VentureWorks and venture capitalist at Advanced Technology Ventures; he also co-founded ibeatyou. We break it down by a number of vertical categories, including Indulgent--all about food, wine, and alcohol; Active--outdoor athletic endeavors; and Creative, which is arts and crafts.

Startup 271

Startup CTO Coach Activity Software Review 271

socalTECH

AUGUST 7, 2009

Thanks to all of the sponsors and advertisers, who allow us to keep you updated on Southern California's high tech news and companies. Backing Southern California's next great technology companies. Helping entrepreneurs succeed. An on-line community for entrepreneurs. Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California IP 100

socalTECH

JULY 23, 2010

Matt Edelman: The last company I ran and co-founded PeopleJam, which was a social media business for people interested in self improvement. Matt Edelman: Before I started, the company had acquired a company called StyleHive, which also owns MyStyleDiary. Those, ultimately, still drive the creation of content across the category.

Newsletter 165

Newsletter Sites Content Advertising 165

socalTECH

JULY 24, 2009

Southern California's high tech news and companies. Backing Southern California's next great technology companies. Helping entrepreneurs succeed. We Create Demand for California's Technology Companies. Custom Insurance Programs for Technology Companies. An on-line community for entrepreneurs.

SoCalTech 100

SoCalTech Orange County Southern California Westlake Village 100

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

I’m super excited to announce that GRP Partners led the investment in Ethan Anderson’s new company MyTime (link has LA-based merchants but will give you a good feel for the product). BuildOnline (the company I founded) has just announcement plans to be more aggressive in growing in the US. Let me not bury the lede.

CTO Coach 359

CTO Coach Google CTO Hire Yammer 359

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

My firm, GRP Partners, invested in the company that innovated this entire category – Overture (formerly known as GoTo.com). But of course Google eventually became the massive winner in this category. Search will remain big but stream is an increasing method of discovering information and therefore driving web traffic.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 4, 2010

It was especially fun for me because we got the chance to talk about the VC industry and how entrepreneurs should think about the VC industry in addition to discussing deals. Palm (acquired by HP ) – In our interview we talked about how transformational mobile computing is and why it’s different than web computing (e.g.

Clearstone 236

Clearstone Venture Capital ReachLocal Google 236

socalTECH

APRIL 2, 2014

Pasadena-based Smartify (www.getsmartify.com)''s CEO, Carla Bourque , recently talked to us about the company''s online marketing platform, and how it differentiates itself from a lot of other competitors in the market. Carla Bourque: The company has been based here since day one. What is Smartify? How''d you end up in Pasadena?

Marketing 196

Marketing Pasadena Platform Email 196

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 22, 2011

This was an audience of mostly first-time entrepreneurs. I spoke about how Amazon Web Services deserves far more credit for the last 5 years of innovation than it gets credit for and how I believe they spawned the micro-VC category. It is great for entrepreneurs and great for VCs. I believe that. and profits!

Pricing 309

Pricing Marketing Startup Venture Capital 309

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

This time frame – 2005/2006 – web 2.0 And I would rather, even before the executive summary, have something to play with (a demo)…” It falls in the category of show don’t tell. “Yeah, that was when I changed for me…” “…there was so much positive feedback on demystifying this one element of venture capital. was starting.

Venture Capital 288

Venture Capital Startup Technical Review Software Review 288

socalTECH

AUGUST 27, 2014

In the Los Angeles startup world, there are lots of high profile, buzzy companies which have lots of attention and funding--but which haven''t earned a dime of revenue. However, this town is also full of very profitable, growing, and revenue generating companies-- which have for the most part been below the radar.

Startup 239

Startup El Segundo Marketing Media 239

socalTECH

JULY 5, 2017

It's fairly unusual to see an apparel company with venture backing, and particularly unusual to see one with the strong lineup of investors that LA-based Jaanuu (www.jaanuu.com) has behind the company. I moved down here to work as a large, $10 billion private equity fund with Ron Burkle, at Yucaipa Companies.

Web 2.0 100

Web 2.0 Equity Legalzoom Capital 100

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Heir to the largest mall in America, and an empire started by his grandfather that now includes banks and manufacturing companies, Mark Ghermezian joined the family business but left the family empire last year to jump on the tech startup bandwagon. In other words, when did you get “bitten” by the entrepreneur bug?

Startup 82

Startup Mobile Platform Ideas 82

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

This is going to be fairly specific to the company. Since I fall into the expert category, my belief is that you should be pretty open with me. I also will point out that in the The 15 Mistakes of First Time Entrepreneurs : 9. This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place. How Stealthy Should You Be?

Startup 211

Startup IP Ideas Patents 211

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Hautelook was able to help define--and conquer--the online flash sales category, in record time. We caught up with Brett to understand how Sole Society spun out of Hautelook and Nordstrom, what the vision for the company is, and how he's applying what he learned making Hautelook one of the fastest growing companies here to the new company.

Southern California 200

Southern California Startup Customer Custom 200

socalTECH

OCTOBER 14, 2019

Los Angeles-based BiasSync (www.biassync.com) was founded by three, very experienced serial entrepreneurs-- Michele Ruiz (broadcast journalism), Robin Richards (CareerArc, Internships.com, NTI Group, MP3), and Dan Gould (former VP of Technology for Tinder). Most companies have not been able to address unconscious bias in a meaningful way.

Content 150

Content Training Education Outsource Development 150

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 21, 2010

I recently read a post over on VentureHacks titled, “ Top Ten Reasons Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers &# written by Scott Walker (who blogs on legal issues for entrepreneurs ). Many people start companies arse backwards. This is one of the biggest source of future problems for the company. the link is here.

Startup 318

Startup IP Southern California Entrepreneur 318

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 20, 2011

This is going to be fairly specific to the company. Since I fall into the expert category, my belief is that you should be pretty open with me. I also will point out that in the The 15 Mistakes of First Time Entrepreneurs : 9. This will only be disclosed when there is an NDA in place. How Stealthy Should You Be?

Startup 198

Startup IP Ideas Patents 198

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

One of the firms launching this week there is Los Angeles-based NativeTung (www.nativetung.com), which is developing tools to help web sites translate and create multilingual versions of their sites. We spoke with Idris Manley , founder of NativeTung, last week, to hear more about the company. What is NativeTung?

Startup 133

Startup Technical Review Social Network Content 133

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

What I want to answer with this post (long though it may be) is: Why did Web 2.0 AOL was controlled by one company and the Internet was distributed. AOL controlled the services, taxed companies to access users and decided what was good or bad. Social Networking in Web 1.0: cheap accessible digital hardware].

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Since then, the monthly subscription model has become the norm for a wide range of products and services, from web applications, to hardware, and services of all types. Others, selling scheduled home maintenance, have shifted away from less-caring homeowners to insurance companies, who see the savings in reduced claims.

Product 86

Product Marketing Education Examples 86

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 2, 2011

It’s apropos because there is so much noise these days with email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web shows, etc. Here’s the thing: entrepreneurs who aren’t at all of our private meetings really didn’t know what do think about the situation. It sure wasn’t when I was a first-time entrepreneur.

Email 287

Email Blogging Venture Capital Writing 287

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

So, we created a site which not just aggregates, but also organizes activities by type, category--land, sea, air--and things like competition, family, culture, adrenaline--to really narrow down the possibilities for what you're looking for. Bill Fried: I'm a serial entrepreneur. How is the company funded?

Activity 164

Activity Startup Sites Web 164

socalTECH

JULY 21, 2011

It combines all of the approaches, from a market point of view, that companies like Starbucks, McDonald's, or Walmart would be interested in. How did the company come about? I was there from when the company launched until March of 2010, when I left to start MomentFeed. Whats your prior experience?

Social Media 248

Social Media Zumbox Media Startup 248

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I’m always inspired when I hear stories about innovation. I’ve always been a big believer that just a couple of key individuals make all of the difference in a company’s success. It’s why my investment philosophy is called, “ the entrepreneur thesis.&#.

Venture Capital 317

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Press 317

Tech Zulu Event

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

Think about how many images are on the web. Tanz has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine “Young Millionaires of 2011 Special Report.” The old media companies were resistant to change. They have 15 channels of categories with publishers like Alloy Digital, U.S. Millions, billions, trillions?

Advertising 98

Advertising Santa Monica Startup Content 98

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. Facebook is about to try to dominate display ads the way Google dominates text ads - Chris Dixon , May 15, 2010 It is customary to divide online advertising into two categories: direct response and brand advertising. But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. Stay Tuned.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2017

Entrepreneurs keep talking to me about the Internet of Things (IOT), autonomous vehicles, inter-planetary travel, and other exciting opportunities, but the majority of real plans I get seem to be “me too” variations of several common themes that have already been done too many times. No more shopping for food or cooking.

Ideas 87

Ideas Sites Social Network Startup 87

socalTECH

MAY 11, 2010

We caught up with EcoMom CEO Jody Sherman , to learn more about the company. Jody--an experienced entrepreneur who was most recently co-founder of a firm he sold to the Virgin Group, and has been involved with such firms as Lycos, Buydirect.com, and Xoom--told us the story of EcoMom, plus how he connected with McClure on the investment.

Software Review 200

Software Review Commerce Startup Sites 200

SoCal CTO

MARCH 20, 2007

In it he separates web consumers into: Time Rich (more time than money) and Time Poor (more money than time). He tells us: If you’re starting a new internet company, its important to know who your audience is, and to make sure that you don’t let your own experience and that of other Time Poor people guide you wrong.

CTO Coach 150

CTO Coach Southern California CTO Hire Social Media 150